Unemployment Steadily Decreasing

Iceland’s national unemployment rate has decreased between the past two years, though figures vary widely by region and profession.

Iceland’s unemployment rate has decreased by 0.9% between the first quarter of 2013 and the first quarter of this year, The Directorate of Labour reports, taking the rate down to 4.5%.

For comparison purposes, the European Union’s unemployment rate was 10.4% in April of this year, and 6.3% in the US at the start of this month.

Iceland’s national unemployment rate is not uniform, and varies by region, sex, age and profession. Suðurnes has the highest unemployment rate, at about 7.5%, while the unemployment rate in the Westfjords is just under 2.5%. More women than men were unemployed in every region of the country except this one.

Further, Icelanders in the 25 to 34 age bracket have the highest rate of unemployment, while those 45 to 54 have the lowest. Laborers and those in the service sector were the hardest hit by unemployment, while joblessness amongst fishers and farmers was only in the double digits – 81 people in total.